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By the time the guests start to slowly wrap up the party and Jisung finally turns down the music and packs his things, he feels absolutely exhausted, drained even, but he doesn’t have any regrets about this day — not in the slightest.
Hosting the wedding for Hyunjin and Seungmin was not a spontaneous decision, it was one made after thinking it through many times and Jisung believes that it was quite a successful experience for him: he’s never hosted a wedding before, so seeing the guests and the newlyweds having fun felt like the best reward for this.
Jisung genuinely loves doing this, loves being the host for parties even though he is actually quite introverted and quiet on most days, so when Hyunjin and Seungmin invited him for lunch and asked whether he would want to host their small wedding, it felt like an honor. The celebration was private and, indeed, very small — there were only the closest friends and family members invited, so Jisung felt comfortable, but even so, right now he is tired, not emotionally, but physically.
Now that the party is over — Jisung is honestly very surprised that it lasted for another two hours even after the main characters of that wedding ran away from it — and all the guests have either left already or moved into the little house that was rented just for this purpose, Jisung wants just one thing and that is sleep.
For some reason, he feels like he hasn’t slept in days, which is perhaps the effect of the wedding script that was almost haunting him in his dreams lately, and as he takes out his phone to snap a picture for his Instagram, Jisung can only think about the soft bed that is waiting for him upstairs.
He hasn’t drunk anything other than one glass of champagne to celebrate the marriage of his friends, so he could drive the car, but after discussing it with Minho, they eventually decided to stay in the rented house for the night — after all, when else can they enjoy the sunrise at the lake if not now?
Minho, being a morning person, loves watching the sun slowly rise up until it’s high in the sky, first painting it with the prettiest warm colors and then taking its rightful place up there, and Jisung is simply too tired to actually drive them back home, so that decision was a no brainer for both of them.
Jisung puts away his phone and looks around the garden where the event took place, trying to spot Minho somewhere among the golden fairy lights and the few people that still haven’t decided if they want to call their friends to pick them up or stay here for the night as well, but Minho is nowhere to be seen.
It makes Jisung frown for a second, but then he shrugs and gets back to unplugging, turning off and packing all the things that he used today — perhaps Minho is already waiting for him in the bedroom.
They haven’t really got the chance to talk during the wedding: while Minho, as a guest, was free to walk around the garden, hang out with their friends and take over the dancefloor (very successfully, if you ask for Jisung’s opinion), Jisung was too caught up in the script and the need to make everything go smoothly, so he only left his spot once to grab himself some cheesecake to munch on between the songs he played.
As the host, Jisung did basically everything — Hyunjin and Seungmin didn’t want to hire people who barely knew them and he, in turn, doesn’t trust anyone to understand his ideas, not because they’re genius ones, but because they’re usually too messy on paper until they’re executed in real life.
Jisung easily understands what his plans and mind maps mean and over time Minho learned to understand some of those too, but so far he’s just about the only person who can find the key to Jisung’s complicated maze of a brain, so having to explain what he had in mind for the wedding script to someone else for Jisung would be way harder than hiring a whole new team would be for Hyunjin and Seungmin.
That, however, meant doing all the work on his own, including playing music and videos for the couple, so Jisung barely got any time to breathe today, let alone spend it with Minho. He isn’t really upset because of that — after all, they see each other every day since they live together, and hosting an event like this for their close friends might as well be the one in a million opportunity, but he still wishes that he got to at least dance with Minho, just once, just to share this sweet warm atmosphere with someone he loves so dearly too.
Sighing, Jisung turns off the laptop and packs it too, stealing occasional glances at the almost empty garden every now and then as he does so, but he can’t find Minho there no matter how hard he tries. At least, Jisung thinks to himself, chuckling quietly, he couldn’t run away like Hyunjin and Seungmin did.
Lost in his thoughts, Jisung doesn’t even notice how a glass full of wine magically appears out of nowhere on his table and nearly knocks it over with his elbow, which earns him a soft giggle somewhere behind his back — a very familiar, beloved giggle that comes from no other than his boyfriend of many years, his personal sunshine on cloudy days and guiding light on dark nights.
He instantly turns around, this time a little more careful to not drop the glass, and gets met with Minho’s warm gaze; the smile that makes its way on Jisung’s face is one that he absolutely can’t control, even if he tried to.
Minho looks gorgeous, breathtaking even, and while Jisung’s already said that multiple times as they were getting ready for the wedding, he still fails to bite his tongue right now too, but only realizes that when Minho gifts him a smile in return.
“Would you like to dance?” Minho asks, ignoring the tiny moment of Jisung’s clumsiness that nearly got the wine spilled.
“I would love to dance with you,” Jisung responds immediately because that is something he’s been thinking about during every short break he got today.
Jisung feels bewitched as he watches how Minho takes his own glass (where did it even come from?) and then hands him the other one, because even while doing something as simple as raising a glass Minho still somehow manages to make Jisung’s heart speed up as though on a chase — or is it just the magic of the wedding that is still floating in the air, hiding around every corner and waiting to break free in the form of sudden love confessions?
Regardless of what it is, Jisung’s reaction is a bit slow, but Minho doesn’t seem to mind that, he waits patiently until Jisung takes the glass from his hand, their fingers brushing lightly for a second, and then wordlessly urges him to make a toast.
It’s clear that Minho is tired of talking and socializing, and Jisung’s seen him drinking with quite a few people (yet certainly not enough to get him drunk) to understand that Minho doesn’t want to say anything else — and yet drinking wine just for the sake of drinking it at such an event, even if it’s already over, feels like a crime, so he hands that task to Jisung, who gladly accepts it.
It doesn’t take a genius to guess that his toast is dedicated to Minho, but Minho still laughs at this and Jisung suddenly doesn’t feel as tired anymore. Could this be the energy freed from Minho’s melodic laughter that somehow went right through Jisung’s ribcage and into his heart?
“To the most beautiful person I’ve ever met in my whole entire life, to the person with the biggest heart and the prettiest smile, to someone I love more than I can ever express with words — to you, Minho,” is what Jisung says before they empty their glasses and place them back on the table.
“That was sweet,” Minho coos, and Jisung wonders for a second whether he’s talking about the wine or the heartfelt confession. “Now… can I steal you for a dance if you’re not too tired? I see your sleepy eyes, but it’s just one dance, I promise.”
“I— umm, I’ve been thinking about this all day, but I’ve already turned off the laptop and—”
“Well, I have this,” Minho whispers in his ear as he fishes Jisung’s phone out of his pocket, grinning with mischief when Jisung looks at him in disbelief.
That is a very Minho thing to do — stealing Jisung’s phone when he has his own — and yet Jisung sometimes still can’t get used to those little quirks of his boyfriend: they never seem weird to him, but rather endearing, and he loves not knowing what Minho will come up with this time.
While Minho looks for the song that he wants to play (Jisung knows that it will be another surprise for him, so he doesn’t bother asking), he decides to not waste the opportunity to cuddle and pulls Minho in by the waist, holding him gently as he rests his head against Minho’s shoulder.
Minho pets his head, and though it is left unsaid for now, Jisung can still hear — or rather, feel — that Minho is proud of him for walking out of his comfort zone like this and for doing it so well.
“Just one dance,” Minho reminds him quietly as he plays the song and leaves the phone on the table, tugging Jisung towards the dancefloor.
Minho always denies that he’s a romantic guy, shaking his head stubbornly and looking at Jisung with big eyes whenever he brings that up, but if his song choice doesn’t scream that he is a romantic — maybe not as hopeless as Hyunjin is, but still — then Jisung wasn’t the host at today’s wedding.
And Jisung was the host, but this time he chooses not to comment on this and simply follows his boyfriend, feeling warmth softly wash all over him as the first lines of Ed Sheeran’s “Afterglow” play somewhere in the background.
The garden is peacefully quiet and empty, and even though there is still the possibility of someone walking out of the house, it doesn’t matter to Jisung now, just like the song itself and the tiredness in his muscles — none of it matters.
The only thing that makes Jisung’s eyes light up with little twinkling hearts right now is the way Minho smiles at him as they dance, slowly, unrushed, taking their time to bask in the tenderness of every move and the beauty of every second.
Jisung’s head is full of thoughts and they are all about how much he loves Minho; he relishes the feeling of Minho’s arms circled around his neck and hums, almost unconsciously pulling him even closer, so that there’s barely any space left between their bodies.
Minho doesn’t mind that, if anything, he whispers along to the song lyrics, mouthing “so alone in love like the world has disappeared” so quietly that Jisung would’ve missed it if by now he hadn’t learned how to read Minho’s lips.
At this moment, Minho looks very small and soft, almost melting in his arms, and it’s so, so different from what he was like during the wedding itself — constantly cracking jokes with their friends, teasing Hyunjin about his incurable heart eyes for his now husband and having one dancing challenge after another with Felix, San and Wooyoung.
Minho once again reminds him of a tiny, fluffy clingy kitten, even though it’s hard to say so by looking at him from the side — but Jisung sees it all, he sees that in the way Minho smiles, feels that in the way Minho lets him lead the dance, notices that in Minho’s eyes that shine so bright that it’d perhaps be blinding if only Jisung didn’t see himself in those eyes.
It’s not easy to earn Minho’s trust and get him to let you in, to let you see this side of his, but Jisung is lucky to witness that contrast almost every day, because with him Minho lets himself be small, be pampered and showered with love, because Minho trusts him enough to show all of his vulnerable sides and knows that it’ll never be used against him.
Minho is unique, one of a kind — a true magician with magic that can’t be described with words, holding Jisung’s heart in the most beautiful sparkling bubble, gently, careful to not give it a scratch, let alone break it.
He shows it once again with this seemingly insignificant offer to dance, shows it through not asking any questions or even saying anything, shows it by letting Jisung get lost in his eyes, understanding what he needs most right now without Jisung having to say it out loud.
If somebody asked Jisung to describe what living with Minho is like, he would definitely say that it’s colorful — and though this may be confusing for people, Jisung believes that this is the only fitting description that exists for Minho.
Their friends often call them a weird couple — lovingly, of course — and that is exactly what they are: from randomly traveling to another city at three in the morning and walking to get ice-cream during cold winter to snuggling under the blanket wearing socks that are matching in a very odd way to solving their problems through talking with their backs turned to each other instead of yelling, that is all about them.
They are, indeed, weird in the eyes of the society, but Jisung wouldn’t have it any other way, because with Minho he feels content and happy, because no one understands him better than Minho does, because what does the society matter when Minho gives him a sleepy smile as he gets to bed just a few hours before Minho gets up and accidentally wakes him up?
Living with Minho is learning how to be a cat father, it’s waking up to the beautiful smell of his new cooking experiments and always having dinner together no matter what is happening in their lives — a little constant detail that makes each evening so special to both of them. Living with Minho is a big surprise full of even bigger surprises, it’s brighter than fireworks and warmer than hot chocolate on a cold winter day, and at the same time it feels safer than hiding under the softest blanket, because Minho is so understanding and comforting, so caring.
Minho is everything that Jisung is and has all the things that Jisung is missing, and, as different as they are in many aspects, they share the missing pieces between each other, complementing one another in ways neither of them could imagine before they met.
The concept of soulmates doesn’t exist in this world, but if it did, then Jisung would definitely call Minho his soulmate — and he does, he does that all the time when someone asks what Minho is to him, because if their souls aren’t perfectly connected, tightly tied together with little invisible threads, then is the sky really blue?
It’s definitely the magic of the wedding that still fills the garden with little sparkles that can only be seen with one’s heart, because Jisung has no other explanation for the way his brain inevitably comes back to the thought that’s been running through his mind a lot lately.
As they dance, the golden fairy lights reflect on Minho’s face, making his smile ten times more beautiful and getting lost in his soft hair, and Jisung just can’t help thinking about how lucky and how happy he is to have been chosen by Minho and to have chosen Minho to be his partner.
It didn’t happen overnight and it took many hardships and even fights, almost took him three years, but after all that they’ve been through, Jisung is sure: the person he is holding in his arms right now is someone he genuinely wants to see by his side for the rest of his life — or, at least, for as long as this life lets him.
All things are bound to eventually find their home, no matter how long it takes, by chance or by fate, and people are no exception, and to Jisung home is found in Minho’s contagious laugh and his craziest ideas to paint the room grass green out of nowhere, to Jisung home is exactly this — slow dancing with the person he loves most, looking in his eyes and finding a bottomless ocean filled with a whole myriad of different feelings there, singing along to “Afterglow” but knowing that there is no prettier sunset for him than Minho’s small smile when they exchange a few lazy kisses before Minho goes to sleep.
It all makes sense at this moment, more than ever, and Jisung doesn’t even notice how the words slip from his lips — so easily, as though he wasn’t hoping to wait until he would get to create a flawless moment just a few months ago before he got caught up in the need to write the wedding script for Hyunjin and Seungmin.
If that isn’t magic, then Jisung has no idea how to call it, because he loses all control of himself and forgets about the world around him, because he feels that this unexpected but very intimate dance put a spell on him that he doesn’t want to ever break from.
“Marry me?” he whispers, still holding Minho tight even though the song has already finished, leaving them in the quiet yet just as magical garden.
Minho’s first response to that isn’t of shock or surprise — they’ve talked about it before and Minho isn’t one to act surprised over something that has a very big possibility of happening, — but a series of melodic giggles that make his eyes shine more than the fairy lights behind them do in the evening darkness that took over the sky a few hours ago.
Those giggles don’t break the spell in the slightest, they don’t even crack it for a moment, but they do make Jisung realize what exactly he’s just said.
He’s been thinking about it for a long while now, even though they didn’t make any decision on who should be the one proposing since it simply wouldn’t matter, and he definitely doesn’t regret proposing right now, but.
It does make him panic a little, because he wanted it to be a more special moment that they would be able to celebrate afterwards, because hosting the wedding today made him feel so tired that he jokingly told Changbin that he’d never want to have a wedding of his own after going through that once while not even being the groom, because…
Jisung didn’t mean to lose control of his words today of all days, but the magic of this moment caught him under its spell so badly that it just happened without him even noticing.
“Of course I will marry you,” Minho finally responds in words too and leans forward to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Now go inside, I can see that you’re falling asleep already. I’ll take care of all these things, don’t worry.”
“But I—” Jisung tries to insist, only for Minho to look at him sternly.
He feels relieved to hear that Minho said yes, but as he grabs his phone from the table and walks towards the house, struggling to find their room for a few minutes, he wonders if Minho truly took this seriously.
Even when he brushes his teeth and gets into bed, he still thinks about that moment — there are no fears in him, because he truly meant this, or else he wouldn’t have said it at all, but there is the uncertainty that he wishes didn’t bother him this much.
Jisung genuinely wants them to get married — they’ve been a family for a while now, with their three cats and a small shared apartment, yet there is still the difference between just living together and making it official, and at the same time Jisung feels nervous about going through another wedding, this time it being his own.
There’s no need to get married right away, no need to hold any ceremony whatsoever, and on any other day Jisung wouldn’t even think about it for so long, but today is different, today they’ve just had the wedding of their close friends and that makes him see things in a new light, even if just for tonight.
“Those fairy lights were tricky to turn off, but I believe that it’s all done now,” Minho sighs upon entering the room and sets the laptop in the corne, locking the door afterwards. “Why are you still awake, Sungie?”
“I just, um,” Jisung clears his throat. “Can’t sleep. This day feels a little bit surreal.”
He isn’t exactly lying, because he truly doesn’t think that he can fall asleep right now, but he knows that Minho has this ability to see right through him and understands that the reason for that isn’t the wedding itself.
Still, Minho hums and quickly strips out of the suit, almost giggling when he gets to take off the tie that’s been getting on his nerves all day, and then wordlessly crawls into bed.
Jisung scoots over to make more space for him to feel comfortable, but Minho clicks his tongue at that and shifts closer, urging Jisung to let him use his arm as a pillow until they both fall asleep. Jisung always finds that cute, how Minho loves resting his head on his arm or shoulder whenever it’s possible, and today is no exception, but his mind is still racing with all the thoughts about the proposal.
“Don’t think too much,” Minho purrs, rolling to his side to kiss Jisung on the nose and then also captures his lips in a sweet tender kiss. “You know that I love you.”
“I do,” Jisung confirms in a whisper, staring at the dark ceiling when Minho moves to lie on his arm again. “I love you too.”
“Now go to sleep, you’ve had an exhausting day, I don’t want to keep you up any longer.”
That means Minho won’t respond to any of his words from now on, so Jisung sighs and wishes him a good night, honestly trying to close his eyes and fall asleep too, but, predictably, failing. His mind is still filled with the precious images of Minho glowing in the golden fairy lights, and no matter how hard he tries, there’s just no escape from those — because Jisung doesn’t want to escape, because Jisung wants to bask in them forever.
Unlike him, Minho falls asleep in no time, and, though he’s a light sleeper, Jisung still can’t think of anything better other than reaching for his phone and texting the only person that may help ease his mind right now — Changbin.
In any other circumstances he would most likely text Hyunjin, but he doubts that the newlyweds want to listen to him panicking right now, so he sends a message to Changbin, a bunch of messages, actually.
hanji (4:31 am):
changbin
changbin
changbin are you sleeping
changbin fuck—
they’re all sleeping rn
hyunjin and seungmin are probably
idk
having sex
or whatever they do in marriage
god changbin please
what do i do if i
i might have
i said no wedding
like ever
but fuck i fucked up i
was actually planning to propose someday
but i ruined all my plans??
when the party ended and everyone started to go to sleep or leave i was wrapping up and damn i was so tired already
it was like an hour ago
minho walked up to me and asked if i wanted to dance
and we were alone and we both drank some alcohol but not enough to really get drunk you know
fuck he was just so different from how he acted at the party and
so damn soft and clingy and
he laughed when i blurted that out but said yes????
we didn’t talk about it but now he’s asleep and i’m freaking out
i wanted it to be more romantic and nicer AND NOT NOW
gosh what do i do now
changbin i am so
stupid
okay fuck whatever you’re not responding anyway
hope you and lix had fun
Changbin doesn’t respond, most likely busy talking to Felix since today was the first time they saw each other after breaking up a year ago when they both were still in love, but Jisung’s nervous tossing and turning as well as his quiet sighs inevitably end up waking up Minho.
The room is dark, so Jisung doesn’t see the way Minho blinks sleepily a few times and misses how the corners of his lips go upwards in a small smile, but he does feel it when Minho nuzzles his neck like Soonie often does to show his affection.
“Sleep, Sungie,” Minho mutters, lips grazing his skin ever so softly and tickling Jisung. “I don’t want my fiancé to lose his beauty sleep over some wedding planning. We can just have your favorite cake and turn off our phones for that day, spend it in our matching pajamas and do nothing. You know I was only joking about a grand wedding today, I don’t need any of that as long as it’s with you.”
And maybe it’s some kind of magic again, but this time not one from the wedding that they celebrated today, because right after hearing that Jisung finally feels his body relax and falls into a dreamless sleep.
Maybe he didn’t need to create a perfect moment, after all, because the most perfect moment found them at the most unexpected time, demonstrating the beauty of life in all its predictable unpredictability.
////
He only remembers that he doesn’t even have a ring once he wakes up in the morning and realizes that it wasn’t a dream and he really proposed to Minho yesterday.